Hong Kong Snapshot (37) (With Video) – Signal Hill Farden, a hidden world in Tsim Sha Tsui
香港随拍(37) (附有视频) – 讯号山公园 – 闹市的隐世、遗世、避世，尖沙咀讯号山公园

Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the three most popular tourist points of HK. Famous spots like Victoria Harbor, Harbor City, Chungking Mansion and Star Ferry was also located in Tsim Sha Tsui. And I found that there is a hidden world in Tsim Sha Tsui.

尖沙咀是香港三大旅遊熱點，著名的維多利亞港、海港城、重慶大廈、天星小輪等，盡在尖沙咀這購物名城，誰知，在尖沙咀的一角，竟有這樣一個被遺忘的隱世之地。

Signal Hill Garden is at Minden Row of Tsim Sha Tsui, behind the Chungking Mansion. I didn’t notice there was such a big Garden before I searched for the declared monuments in HK on the web.

訊號山公園位於尖沙咀緬甸台接近海邊個一角，重慶大廈的後面，老實說，如非在網上尋找香港古蹟資料時見到訊號山公園，我真的不知道尖沙咀還有這麼大的一個公園存在。

A peaceful garden in a downtown 鬧市中的寧靜公園

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History of Signal Hill 訊號山的歷史

1927, Signal Tower 1927年的訊號塔 (photo from Wikipedia)

Signal Hill is also called the Blackhead Point. It was initially a cape at Tsim Sha Tsui. Before 1850, there was a German businessman called Friehrich Johan Berthold Schwarzkopf who built a lot of warehouse at the place. Schwarzkopf means Blackhead in English and so it was called the Blackhead point.

訊號山又名黑頭角，本來是尖沙咀海岸的一個海角，黑頭角這個名字源於當年一位德國商人Friehrich Johan Berthold Schwarzkopf，他在黑頭角一帶建有很多倉庫，他的姓氏Schwarzkopf翻譯為英文是 “Blackhead”，所以這個海角就叫做黑頭角。

After British took over Kowloon, they built a military base at Blackhead Point the defense Kowloon. Later HK became an important harbor of the Far East, so the British Government built the observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui to report time to ships by time ball. Later in 1907, the government built the Signal Tower at Blackhead Point and it became the “Signal Hill”.

黑頭角本來是軍事炮台，是英國保衛九龍半島的一個據點，後來香港成為遠東的一個重要港口，故政府先在尖沙咀建立天文台，以時間球向來往船隻報時，後來於1907年在黑頭角建立另一個訊號塔，至此黑頭角變成訊號山。

Blackhead Point in 1870 1870年的黑頭角 (photo from Wikipedia)

Location of Blackhead Point in a map of year 1915 100年前地圖中的黑頭角 (photo from Wikipedia)

Signal Hill was a landmark of Tsim Sha Tsui at that time as ships and people in Tsim Sha Tsui could easily recognize the Signal Tower from far away. There was a time ball also on the Signal Tower. Ships could check the accuracy of their chronmeters used in navigation by the time ball. Besides, when there was typhoon in HK, signals were also raised on the Signal Hill to remind ships and residents in Tsim Sha Tsui.

訊號山本來是尖沙咀海角的地標，小山丘上的高塔，沒有比它更容易辦認的地方吧！訊號塔塔頂有一個時間球，向維多利亞港的船隻報告時間，而在訊號塔旁有一個小型裝置，在風球侵襲香港時，便掛起風球訊號提醒船隻及附近的居民。

1908, Signal Tower 1908年的訊號塔 (photo from Wikipedia)

Due to the common use of radio-telegraphy, the service of Signal Tower ceased in 1933 and the time ball was dismantled. The tower was then left uncultivated. In 1980, the Urban Council of HK took charge of it. It then build the Signal hill Garden and repaired the Tower.

不過後來無線電報時日漸普及，政府最終於1933年拆下訊號塔的時間球，訊號塔更被荒廢下來，沒有人理會。直到1980年，訊號山由市政局接管，更在該處開闢成訊號山公園及修復訊號塔，沒想到在香港這個地方，於尖沙咀鬧市也可以有一個地方被遺忘接近50年，實屬難得。

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The “Peaceful” Signal Hill Garden 隱世的訊號山公園

Now the Signal Tower is a declared Monuments in HK. It is 60 feet high with three storeys. It was one of the tallest building in Tsim Sha Tsui and of course, It is now hidden in the concrete jungle. Signal Tower was built to a Classical Baroque design style and Edwardian decorative features. Red bricks were the main materials with contrasting lighter color stone architectural features. But the time ball is missing now.

今天的訊號塔已是香港法定古蹟，訊號塔樓高六十呎，共有三層，本是附近的高樓之一，不過今天已隱沒在鬧市之中了。訊號塔帶有濃厚的古典巴洛克色彩，加入愛德華式裝飾，用紅磚配上淺色石構件，不過，訊號塔上的時間球已不見了。

Now the Signal Hill Garden is neglected, which is same as the Signal Tower at the old time. In the tour of the garden, I could know see a couple and two staffs only in such a big garden. It is heard that there were many people when the game Pokemon Go was popular in HK. But now, the park is back to silent and peaceful.

至於訊號山公園，則和之前的訊號塔一樣，被人忽視遺忘，我這天在下午的時間來到訊號山花園，全程只見到一對情侶及兩名清潔人員，沒想到這麼大的一個公園，竟沒有什麼人到訪。聞說Pokemon Go盛行時，這裡成為了捉精靈的聖地，不過熱潮過去，訊號山再度回歸寧靜。

We can see the Victoria Harbor in the park. It’s really romantic if you enjoy the Victoria Harbor in the pavilion with your couple. The Signal Hill was originally at the sea coast. You may see how many reclamation works were done in HK here.

在訊號山公園，仍可依稀見到維多利亞港的一角，和情侶坐在公園的涼亭，在沒人的環境欣賞海景，其實都是挺浪漫的一件事，至少不用在尖沙咀海傍和大捆的遊客爭奪有利位置。訊號山本是尖沙咀的海邊，在這裡你就會見到這些年尖沙咀一帶填了多少海。

The Signal Tower is still in the Signal Hill Garden. It is open from 9am to 11am and 4pm to 6pm every day. The third floor which initial placed the time ball was blocked but we can still go to the second floor. There are four windows on the second floor to enjoy the view of Tsim Sha Tsui. But most view are blocked by the buildings already.

訊號塔仍在訊號山，每天上午九時至十一時及下午四時至六時開於給市民，每次只限15分鐘，但其實只有我一人進去，逗留15分鐘這個告示是否有點有趣？塔號塔三樓本來放置時間球的樓層已被封閉，我們只能上到二樓，二樓有4個窗可欣賞尖沙咀的景色，不過都已被高樓遮住了。

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The fate of Signal hill Garden seems to be same as the time ball. No one know, no one remember. But I like this place. It’s not easy to find a quiet place in Tsim Sha Tsui. I always go to Tsim Sha Tsui but I really can’t find a quiet restaurant or café in Tsim Sha Tsui. So I think I will visit the garden often. If there is chance, try to meet me!

訊號山公園命運如時間球一樣，像是沒人知道，沒人記得，不過我很喜歡這個地方，難得在尖沙咀這人滿為患的地方有這樣一個寧靜的空間，我不太喜歡尖沙咀，因我在尖沙咀想找個人少一點的café也沒有！但我卻經常需要到尖沙咀，所以我想我會常來訊號山公園，有機會的話，來訊號山公園與我碰碰面吧！

Again, a video for you!

最後，一段視頻！

!steemitworldmap 22.2950388 lat 114.1731387 long d3scr

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謝謝你能抽空閱讀這篇文章，我平日喜歡分享香港的故事，希望大家多多支持，我會繼續努力！

Thanks for spending your time to read my articles. I like to share stories of Hong Kong. I wish you may support me and I will keep going!

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